Animal caretaker rescues a reputation

Humane Society confronts false rumors let loose on the Internet.

Humane Society confronts false rumors let loose on the Internet.

June 29, 2006|NANCY J. SULOK Tribune Columnist

Did you hear the one about the Humane Society freezing cats to death? How about the one about the Humane Society placing live cats in an acid that dissolves animal carcasses? This is a story of how a rumor gets started, and how it changes as it spreads, much like the old game of telephone. Except today, the telephone is nothing compared with the Internet. Once a story hits cyberspace, the possibilities are endless. The Humane Society of St. Joseph County and its former director are faced with the daunting task of trying to stop the lies. The stories threaten to become an urban legend, but a South Bend lawyer is threatening to fight back with legal action against anyone who spreads them. It all started early this month after a probationary employee apparently misunderstood what she was seeing at the St. Joseph County Humane Society's shelter in Mishawaka, according to Eric Durcinka, who at the time was the shelter director. (He recently left that job to become director of the Humane Society of Elkhart County.) Durcinka was preparing to euthanize a feral cat, and the animal was struggling at the end of a control stick as it was being taken from one room to another. The process was repeated with another cat. Maryanne Hatfield, who now is a former employee, apparently made an assumption about how the cats were put down, according to Dr. Carol Ecker, a veterinarian who serves as president of the society's board of directors. Feeding her misunderstanding, Ecker said, was an ordering snafu that led to a shortage of the chemical that is used for lethal injections. Hatfield reported that the society had run out of the chemical, which was true, but Ecker said that she had provided a three- or four-day supply from her own inventory. Hatfield also was upset about a dog with a paralyzed back end that had been brought to the shelter to be euthanized. She said the dog was left in an uncleaned cage for several days before it was put down. The incidents happened at about the time Hatfield was being reprimanded for mistakes she made on the job, Durcinka said. All these elements collided to create the perfect opportunity for misunderstanding. Hatfield wrote a letter to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The letter also began to circulate in the community, and it found its way into e-mail and onto the Internet. "I have no idea how it's gotten out," Hatfield claimed. Also helping to spread the misinformation was a recent visit to South Bend by the Neuter Scooter, a mobile operating room used to sterilize cats. Dr. Tess Peavy, a veterinarian from Bloomington, Ind., who operates the service, picked up on the stories and helped to spread them as she traveled to Hammond, Ind., then back to Bloomington. Instead of calling the Humane Society to find out if the incredible stories were true, Peavy said she contacted her attorney, who said if the stories were true, someone should file a complaint. Peavy said she felt that was her ethical duty. The e-mails, one from as far away as Henderson, N.C., also used the name of Gary L. Libbey, director of the South Bend Animal Control, to authenticate the story. Libbey told me he had heard the stories but had not verified them. He said that he had not forwarded the e-mail to anyone, but that he had shown it to members of Pet Refuge. The story continued to ripple outward. "One person tells someone who tells someone else, and that's how it gets twisted," Libbey said. Hatfield's letter mentioned that the room where the cats were being taken was next to the Agri-Lyzer, a machine that dissolves dead animals and purifies the remains for flushing into the Mishawaka sewer system. Somehow that got twisted into a rumor that cats were being killed by being placed in the Agri-Lyzer. Ecker said someone from PETA contacted her early this month, and she explained that no cats were placed in a freezer or in the Agri-Lyzer to die. She said she welcomed PETA to visit the shelter at any time, but so far nobody has taken up her offer. Meanwhile, Humane Society officials are trying to quash the rumors, which they fear will damage the society's reputation. Peter J. Agostino, Durcinka's attorney, said he drafted a resignation statement for Hatfield in which the society agreed not to pursue legal action against her if she would agree to stop spreading false stories. She signed the agreement on June 12. Reached by telephone this week, Hatfield said Agostino did not ask her to retract her story, just not to talk about it any more. Despite that, she said, she is standing by her original story. "What I saw was what I saw,'' she said. Agostino said he already has written letters warning people to cease and desist. The sad thing is that euthanasia rates have been on the decline in recent years at the Humane Society. The society has a policy not to euthanize healthy animals that can be adopted. It also does not euthanize injured wild animals that are brought to the shelter for treatment. In fact, Ecker said, three deer that are currently in the rehab unit will be transferred to a refuge area when they are well enough. Durcinka, meanwhile, is dealing with the distress of the rumors. He has built a reputation on caring for animals, and a story like this threatens to destroy everything. "It's making me sick," he said. Nancy J. Sulok's columns appear on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. You can reach her at nsulok@sbtinfo.com, or by writing c/o South Bend Tribune, 225 W. Colfax Ave., South Bend, IN 46626, telephone (574) 235-6234.